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DOCUMENT No. I 15. 

EXPANSION 

TlAS BEEN FROM THE EARLIEST DAY 
THE POLICY OF OUR COUNTRY. 



THE EVIDENCE FROM THE FATHERS OF THE REPUBLIC. 



the testimony of 

George Washington Abraham Lincoln 

Thomas Jefferson Andrew Jackson 

General Grant Benjamin Franklin 

John Marshall Alexander Hamilton 

Henry Clay William H. Seward 

Albert Gallatin Stephen A. Douglas 

James Madison Gouverneur Morris 

James K. Polk James Buchanan 
Franklin Pierce 



BY 

ALBERT H. WALKER, 

OF THE N W YORK BAR. 



PUBLISHED BY 

republican national committee, 

*<EVV YORK. 



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.Win 
EXPANSION. 

There is a rank due to the United States among 
the nations of the world which will be withheld, if 
not absolutely lost, by the reputation for weakness. 
[WASHINGTON.] / 

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Having practiced the acquisition of territory for 
nearly 60 years the question of constitutional power 
to do so is no longer an open one with us. [LINCOLN.] 

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I am persuaded no Constitution was ever before 
so well calculated as ours for extensive empire and 
self government. [THOS. JEFFERSON.] 

Qp& $£M ^r^ 

I tell you, increase and multiply and expand is the 
law of this nation's existence. [S. A. DOUGLAS.] 

£^V jgfif ifiF? 

I now behold the great American eagle, with her 
Stars and Stripes, hovering over the Lone Star of 
Texas, with cheering voice welcoming it into our 
glorious Union, [ANDREW JACKSON.] 

&M ifi* t&^ 

I do not share in the apprehension held by many 
as to the danger of governments becoming weakened 
and destroyed by reason of their extension of terri- 
tory. [GRANT.] 

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J; -05 



THE ISSUE STATED. „ 

"COHE BACK," says i*lr. Bryan, "come back to the days of 
Jefferson, of Washington — to the days of the Fathers, and consider 
what the founders of our Government thought, and said, and did 
on this question of expansion." So speaks Jlr. Bryan, asserting 
and arguing that the great statesmen of our country support his 
side of the case. 

IN PROOF of his assertion Hr. Bryan recites portions of the 
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Washington's 
Farewell Address, and quotes, also, sayings of Jefferson, Washington, 
Lincoln and others. He argues from these general statements that 
the founders and defenders of our country support his side of the case. 

THIS CHALLENGE WE ACCEPT. 

WE WILL GO BACK to those early days, and we will show you 
by the testimony of these great men, by their very words when 
speaking expressly of expansion, that they are witnesses not for 
rir ; Bryan but against him ; that their evidence is not for his cause 
but against it. We will show you that almost without exception 
the great statesmen of this country, from Jefferson and Washing- 
ton down to Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, have spoken 
and argued for expansion. 

FOR OUR PROOF we now quote to you the testimony that these 
great men, the Fathers, gave when dealing in their day with the 
question of expansion, citing after each statement the occasion when 
it was made. 



THE TESTIMONY. 



WASHINGTON PROGRESSIVE. 

HE HOPED THAT CANADA WOULD BECOME A 
PART OF THE UNION — HIS VALLEY FORGE 
LETTER. 

" Wanting scarcely anything but the free 
navigation of the Mississippi, which we 
must have and as certainly shall have as 
we remain a nation, I have supposed that, 
with the undeviatiug exercise of a just, 
steady and prudent national policy, we 
shall be the gainers, whether the Powers of 
the Old World may be in peace or war, but 
more especially in the latter case." — 
George Washington, in a letter to Lafa- 
yette, August 11th, 1790. 

" I see no objection to our indulging a 
hope that this country (Canada), of such 
importance in the present controversy, may 
yet be added to and complete our Union." 
— George Washington, in a letter to Gen- 
eral Sullivan, June l(jth, 1776. 

" The accounts which you had received 
of the accession of Canada to the Union 
were premature. It is a measure much 
to be wished, and I believe would not be 
displeasing to the body of that people. 
Your ideas of its importance to our polit- 
ical union coincide exactly with mine. If 
that country is not with us, it will, from 
its proximity to the Eastern States, its 
intercourse and connection with the nu- 
merous tribes of Western Indians, its 
communion with them by water and other 
local advantages, be at least a troublesome 
if not a dangerous neighbor to us ; and 
ought, at all events, to be in the same in- 
terests and politics of the other States." — 
George Washington, in a letter from Val- 
ley Forge to Landon Carter, May 30th, 
1778. 

"And lastly, another Province (Nova 
Scotia), which some time ago was very de- 
sirous of it, would be added to the Federal 
Union. It may not be amiss to give Ber- 
muda some consideration, as circumstances 



in the course of the campaign may lead tc 
the conquest of this island, without incur- 
ring much expense, or interfering with 
other plans. Policy in this case may in- 
vite the measure whether it is adopted witn 
a view of retaining or ceding the island by 
way of composition at a general pacifica- 
tion. Some good and no bad consequences 
can result from an attempt to take this is- 
land by surprise. The island might be car- 
ried without much, if any, opposition ; for 
it is presumed very little would come from 
the inhabitants, who have often expressed 
a wish to be united with America and en- 
joy the benefit of its support." — George 
Washington in his Plan of Campaign for 
the year 1782, in the Revolutionary War, 
drawn up by him at Newburgh, May 1st, 
1(82 

" The United States ought not to indulge 
a persuasion that, contrary to the order of 
human events, they will forever keep at a 
distance those painful appeals to arms 
with which the history of every nation 
abounds. There is a r^nk due to the 
United States among the nations of the 
world which will be withheld if not abso- 
lutely lost, by the reputation for weak- 
ness." — George Washington, in a speech 
to Congress, Dec. ba, 1793. 

JEFFERSON AN EXPANSIONIST. 

HIS DREAM OF AN EMPIRE FOR LIBERTY — 
THE CONSTITUTION WELL ADAPTED FOR 
IT. 

" We should then have only to include 
the North in our Confederacy, which would 
be of course in the first war, and we should 
have such an empire for liberty as she has 
never surveyed since the creation ; and I 
am persuaded no constitution was ever be- 
fore so well calculated as ours for exten- 
sive empire and self-government." — Thomas 
Jefferson, in a letter from Monticello to 
James Madison, April 21th, 1809. 

"Although it is acknowledged that our 
new fellow citizens (of Louisiana) are as 
yet incapable of self-government as chil- 
dren, yet some cannot bring themselves to 
suspend its principles for a single mo- 
ment." — Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to 
De Witt Clinton, Dec. 2d, 1803. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S VIEWS. 

THE QUESTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL POWER 
TO ACQUIRE TERRITORY NO LONGER OPEN. 

" Having practiced the acquisition of 
territory for nearly sixty years, the ques- 
tion of constitutional power to do so is no 
longer an open one with us. The power 
was questioned at first by Mr. Jefferson, 
who, however, in the purchase of Louis- 
iana, yielded his scruples on the plea of 
great expediency. Mr. Jefferson placed 
the importance of procuring Louisiana 
more on political and commercial grounds 
than on providing room for population." 
— Abraham Lincoln, in his first Annual 
Message to Congress, Dec. 3d, 1861. 

" I am not generally opposed to honest 
acquisition of territory ; and in any given 
case I would or would not oppose such ac- 
quisition, according as I might think such 
acquisition would or would not aggravate 
the slavery question among ourselves." — 
Abraham Lincoln, in a speech at Freeport, 
Illinois, August 2.1th, 1858. 

" To carry out the plan of colonization 
(of the negroes who had been liberated) 
may involve the acquiring of territory, and 
also the appropriation of money beyond 
that to be expended in the territorial ac- 
quisition." — Abraham Lincoln, in his First 
Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 3d, 
1861. 

JACKSON AND THE EAGLE. 

HIS CONGRATULATIONS TO GEN. HOUSTON 
ON ACQUIRING TEXAS — MUST ADD TO, 
NOT CEDE FROM, REPUBLIC. 

"On such a subject (the surrender of 
Texas to Spain in 1810), 1 thought with 
the ancient Romans, that it was right 
never to cede any land or boundary of the 
Republic, but always to add to it by hon- 
orable treaty, thus extending the area of 
freedom ; and it was in accordance with 
this feeling that I gave our Minister to 
Mexico instruction tj enter upon a nego- 
tiation for the retrocession of Texas to the 
United States. This negotiation failed, 
and I shall ever regret it as a misfortune 
to both Mexico and the United States." — 
Andrew Jackson, in a letter from the Her- 
mitage to A. V. Brown, Feb. VHh. 1843. 

"I congratulate you, 1 congratulate 
Texas and the United States, on this glo- 



rious result (the annexation of Texas) on 
which depended the safety and prosperity 
of both Texas and the United States. 

" I now behold the great American eagle, 
with her stars and stripes, hovering over 
the lone star of Texas, with cheering voice 
welcoming it into our glorious Union, and 
proclaiming to Mexico and all foreign 
Governments, ' You must not attempt to 
tread upon Texas,' that ' the United Stars 
and Stripes now defend her.' Glorious re- 
sult ! in which you, General, have acted a 
noble part ; and your name is now recorded 
among the heroes, the patriots and philan- 
thropists." — Andrew Jackson, in a letter 
from the Hermitage to General Sam. Hous- 
ton, March 12th, 1845. 

" I must say that, in all respects, the an- 
nexation of Texas to the United States 
promises to enlarge the circle of free in- 
stitutions, and is essential to the United 
States, particularly as lessening the prob- 
abilities of future collision with foreign 
Powers and giving them greater efficiency 
in spreading the blessings of peace." — An- 
drew Jackson, in a letter from the Hermit- 
age to A. V. Brown, Feb. 12th, 1843. 

GENERAL GRANT HAD NO FEAR 

AS TO WEAKENING THE GOVERMENT BY AD- 
DITIONS OF NEW TERRITORY. 

" I do not share in the apprehension held 
by many as to the* danger of governments 
becoming weakened and destroyed by rea- 
son of their extension of territory. Com- 
merce, education and rapid transit of 
thought and matter by telegraph and steam 
have changed all this. Rather do I be- 
lieve that our Great Maker is preparing 
the world, in His own good time, to be- 
come one great nation, speaking one lan- 
guage, and when armies and navies will be 
no longer required." — General Grant, in 
his Second Inaugural Address. March 4th, 
1873. 

" The acquisition of San Domingo is de- 
sirable because of its geographical posi- 
tion. It commands the entrance to the 
Caribbean Sea and the Isthmus transit of 
commerce. Its possession by us will in a 
few years build up a coastwise commerce 
of immense magnitude, which wal go far 
toward restoring to us our lost merchant 
marine. In case of foreign war it will give 
us command of all the islands referred to 
(the West India Islands), and thus pre- 



6 



vent an enemy from ever again possessing 
himself of rendezvous upon our very coast. 
The acquisition of San Domingo is an ad- 
herence to the Monroe Doctrine ; it is a 
measure of national protection ; it is as- 
serting our just claim to a controlling in- 
fluence over the great commercial traffic 
soon to flow from West to East by way 
of the Isthmus of Darien. It is, in fine, 
a rapid stride toward that greatness which 
the intelligence, industry, and enterprise 
of the citizens of the United States entitle 
this country to assume among nations." — 
General Giant, in his Second Annual Mes- 
sage to Congress, Dec. 5th, 1870. 

UNITY OF EMPIRE. 

ALEXANDER HAMILTON'S IDEAS CONCERN- 
ING THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE UNITED 



" Besides the eventual security against 
invasion, we ought certainly to look to the 
possession of the Floridas and Louisiana, 
and we ought to squint at South America. 
— Alexander Hamilton in a letter to James 
McHenry, June 21th, 1799. 

" I have been long in the habit of con- 
sidering the acquisition of those countries 
(Louisiana and Florida) as essential to 
the permanency of the Union." — Alexander 
Hamilton, in a letter to H. G. Otis, Jan. 
26th, 1799. 

" The Farmer, I am inclined to hope, 
builds too much upon the present disunion 
of Canada, Georgia, the Floridas, the Mis- 
sissippi and Nova Scotia from other Colo- 
nies. I please myself with the flattering 
prospect that they will, ere long, unite in 
one indissoluble chain with the rest of the 
Colonies." — Alexander Hamilton, in his 
" Vindication of the Measures of Con- 
(jres*" in 1774. 

"The whole (the attitude of the United 
States toward France when France got 
Louisiana from Spain ) is then a question 
of expediency. Two courses only present : 
First, to negotiate, and endeavor to pur- 
chase ; and if this fails, to go to war. Sec- 
ondly, to seize at once on the Floridas and 
New Orleans, and then negotiate. - " — Alex- 
ander Hamilton, in an article written for 
the Evening Post in 1803. 

" You know my general theory as to our 
Western affairs. I have always held that 
the unity of the empire, and the best inter- 
ests of the United States require that we 



should annex to the United States all the 
territory east of the Mississippi, New Or- 
leans included." — Alexander Hamilton, in, 
a letter to General C. V. Pinckney, Dec. 
29th, 1802. 

FOUR OF OUR PRESIDENTS 

WHO EARLY RECOGNIZED THAT THIS WAS 
TO BE A GROWING NATION. 

PRESIDENT JAMES MADISON 
said : " The purchase of Louisiana to its 
fullest extent, though not contemplated, is 
received with warm, and, in a manner, uni- 
versal approbation. The uses to which it 
may be turned render it a highly noble ac- 
quisition." — President James Madison, in 
a letter to James Monroe, July 30th, 1804. 

PRESIDENT JAMES K. POLK said : 
" In the earlier stages of our national ex- 
perience, the opinion prevailed with some 
that our system of confederate States could 
not operate successfully over an extended 
territory, and serious objections have at 
times been made to the enlargement of our 
boundaries. These objections were earnest- 
ly urged when we acquired Louisiana. Ex- 
perience has shown that they were not well 
founded." — President James K. Polk, in 
his Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1845. 

PRESIDENT FRANKLIN PIERCE 
said : " The United States have continued 
gradually and steadily to expand through 
acquisitions of territory, which, how much 
soever some of them may have been ques- 
tioned, are now universally seen and ad- 
mitted to have been wise in policy, just in 
character, and a great element in the ad- 
vancement of our country, and with it of 
the human race, in freedom, in prosperity 
and in happiness." — President Franklin 
Pierce, in his First Annual Message to 
Congress, Dec. 5th, 1853. 

PRESIDENT JAMES BUCHANAN 
said: " Expansion' is in future the policy 
of our country, and only cowards fear and 
oppose it." — President James Buchanan in, 
a speech at the White House in 1801. 

" All the territory which we have ac- 
quired since the origin of the Government 
has been by fair purchase from France, 
Spain and Mexico, or by the free and volun- 
tary act of the independent State of Texas 
in blending her destinies with our own. 
This course we shall ever pursue unless 



circumstances should occur which we do 
not now anticipate, rendering a departure 
from it clearly justifiable under the im- 
perative and overruling law of self-preser- 
vation." — President James Buchanan in 
his Second Annual Message to Congress, 
December 6, 1858. 

FRANKLIN HINTED 

THAT ENGLAND MIGHT HAVE TO GIVE UP 
CANADA. 

" Britain possesses Canada. It might 
be humiliating to her to give it up on the 
demand of America. Perhaps America 
will not demand it. But on the mind of 
the people in general would it not have an 
excellent effect if Britain should volun- 
tarily offer to give up this province? And 
I hinted that, if England should make us 
a voluntary offer of Canada expressly for 
the purpose of effecting durable peace and 
sweet reconciliation, it might have a good 
effect." — Benjamin Franklin in 1782 in ne- 
gotiating with Richard Oswald, the British 
Envoy, the Treaty of Peace at the close 
of the Revolutionary War. 

" If the United States should think fit to 
attempt the reduction of the British power 
in the northern parts of America, or the 
islands of Bermudas, those countries or 
islands, in case of success, shall be con- 
federated or dependent upon the said 
United States." — Benjamin Franklin in 
Treaty with France in 1778, .written by 
him. 

LEGAL AUTHORITY. 

CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL ON THE POWER 
OF THE CONSTITUTION. 

" The Constitution confers absolutely 
upon the Government of the Union the 
power of making war and of making 
treaties ; consequently, that Government 
possesses the power of acquiring territory, 
either by conquest or by treaty. The 
usage of' the world is, if a nation is not 
entirely subdued, to consider the holding 

■ of conquered territories as a mere military 
occupation until its fate shall be deter- 
mined at the treaty of peace. If it be 

' ceded by the treaty the acquisition is con- 
firmed, and the ceded territory becomes 

. part of the nation to which it is annexed, 
either on the terms stipulated in the treaty 
'of cession or on such terms as its new mas- 



ter shall impose." — Chief Justice John 
Marshall in his opinion in the case of the 
American Insurance Co. vs. Canter, de- 
cided in the United States Supreme Court 
in 1828. 

"They (the inhabitants of Florida, 
which was then a Territory) do not, how- 
ever, participate in political power — they 
do not share in the Government until Flor- 
ida shall become a State. In the meantime 
Florida continues to be a Territory of the 
United States, guarded by virtue of the 
clause in the Constitution (Section 3, Ar- 
ticle 4) which empowers Congress 'to 
make all needful rules and regu- 
lations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States.' " 
— Chief Justice John Marshall in his opin- 
ion in the case of the American Insurance 
Co. vs. Canter, decided in the United 
States Supreme Court in 1828. 

STRONG WORDS OF DOUGLAS. 

HE SAYS THE LAW OF NATIONS IS TO 
MULTIPLY AND EXPAND. 

" When it becomes necessary in our 
growth and progress to acquire more ter- 
ritory I am in favor of it. It is idle to 
tell me or you that we have territory 
enough. Our fathers supposed that we 
had enough when our territory extended to 
the Mississippi River, but a few years' 
growth and expansion satisfied them that 
we needed more, and the Louisiana ter- 
ritory, from the west branch of the Mis- 
sissippi to the British possessions, was ac- 
quired. Then we acquired Oregon, then 
California and New Mexico. We have 
enough for the present, but this is a young 
and growing nation. I tell you increase 
and multiply and expand is the law of this 
nation's existence. You cannot limit this 
great Republic by mei-e boundary lines, 
saying, ' Thus far shalt thou go and no 
further.' Just as fast as our interests 
and our destiny require additional terri- 
tory in the" north, in the south, or in the 
islands of the sea, I am for it." — Stephen 
A. Douglas in a speech at Freeport, III., 
August 27, 1858. 

A NEW YORK STATESMAN. 

WILLIAM II. SEWARD'S IDEAS ON THE DE- 
VELOPMENT OP CANADA. 

" Standing here and looking far off into 
the Northwest I see the Russian as he 



busily occupies himself in establishing sea- 
ports', and towns, and fortifications, on the 
verge of this continent, as the outposts 
of St. Petersburg, and I can say, ' Go on 
and build up your outposts all along the 
coast, even up to the Arctic Ocean — they 
will yet become the. outposts of my own 
country — monuments of the civilization of 
the United States in the Northwest.' So 
I look off on Prince Rupert's Land and 
Canada and see there an ingenious, enter- 
prising and ambitious people occupied with 
bridging rivers and constructing canals, 
railroads and telegraphs to organize and 
preserve British provinces north of the 
Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence and around 
the shores of the Hudson Bay, and I am 
able to say : '. It is very well ; you are 
building excellent States to be hereafter 
admitted into the American Union.' " — 
William H. Seward in a speech at St. Paul 
.September 18, 18(50. 

" A war about these fisheries ( the Brit- 
ish fisheries in North America) would be 
a war which would result either in the in- 
dependence of the British provinces or in 
their annexation to the United States. I 
devoutly pray God that that consumma- 
tion may come, the sooner the better; but 
I do not desire it at the cost of war, or in- 
justice. I am content to wait for the rip- 
ened fruit which must fall." — William H. 
Seward in a speech in the Senate August 
14, 1852. 

TESTIMONY OF PUBLIC MEN 

WHO AGREED ON THE SUBJECT OF TERRI- 
TORIAL EXPANSION TEARS AOO. 

HENRY CLAY said : " I have, however, 
no hesitation in saying that, far from hav- 
ing any personal objection to the annexa- 
tion of Texas, I should be glad to see it, 
without dishonor, without war, with the 
common consent of the Union, and upon 
jiist and fair terms. It would be unwise 
to refuse a permanent acquisition, which 
will exist as long as the globe remains, on 
account of a temporary institution (slav- 
ery). — Henry Clay in a letter to Stephen 
/•'.' Miller, July 27, 1844. 

ALBERT GALLATIN said : " To me it 
would appear: That the United States as 
a nation have an inherent right to acquire 



territory. That whenever the territorj 
has been acquired Congress have the power 
either of admitting it into the Union as a 
new State, or of annexing it to a State 
with the consent of that State, or of mak- 
iug regulation for the government of such 
territory-" — Albert Gallatin in a letter to 
Thomas Jefferson, January 13, 1803. 

GOUYERNEUR MORRIS said: "I al- 
ways thought when we should acquire 
Canada and Louisiana it would be proper 
to govern them as provinces, and allow 
them no voice in our councils. In wording 
the third section of the fourth article of 
the Constitution I went as far as circum- 
stances would permit, to establish the ex- 
clusion.'^ — Gouverneur Morris of New York, 
who wrote the third section of the fourth 
article of the Constitution, in a letter to 
Henry W. Livingston, December 4, 1803. 

" The Congress shall have power to make 
all needful rules and regulations respecting 
territory or other property belonging to the 
United States." Section 3, Article -t, of 
the Constitution. 

" I knew then, as well as I do now, that 
all North America must at length be an- 
nexed to us." — Gouverneur Morris in a let- 
to- to Henry W. Livingston, November 
25th, 1803. 

MR. BRYAN thinks he knows what 
these men, the Fathers, would do to-day. 

WE KNOW what they did and said in 
their day. 

We recall that Abraham Lincoln in 1860 
said : " I do not mean to say that we are 
bound to follow implicitly in whatever our 
fathers did. To d" so would be to discard 
all the lights of current experience — to re- 
ject all progress, all improvement. What 
I do say is that if we would supplant the 
opinions and policy of our fathers in 
any case, we should do so upon evidence 
so conclusive, and arguments so clear, that 
even their great authority, fairly consid- 
ered and weighed, cannot stand." — Abra- 
ham Lincoln in a speech at Cooper Union, 
February 27th, 1860. 



Who is right: MR. BRYAN or THE 
FATHERS? 



Hollinger 

pH 8.5 

Mill Run F03-2193 



